Doppelganger Route
by tatantyler
Summary: Envy is a very powerful emotion, as Shintaro discovers.
1. Accidents Happen

___Obligatory Disclaimer: I don't own the Kagerou Project; Jin (aka Shizen-no-Teki-P) does._

* * *

_Doppelganger Route_

Shintaro Kisaragi was never quite the same after Ayano Tateyama's death.

The guilt and depression from her suicide had led him to shut himself off from the rest of the world. Over time, those emotions gave rise to self-loathing, and a constant wish and longing for another chance to see her again. He spent entire days and nights thinking and dreaming about that wish. His virtual companion, Ene, said that it was "seriously frightening" and that he "needed to let go of the past." None of her words reached Shintaro, however, and one day, he simply _snapped, _choking Ene to death in a blind fury.

Of course, he broke down soon afterwards; all of the pain and guilt from the past year or so had made a reappearance, this time multiplied a thousandfold- he had done the deed with his own hands, after all. In grief and pain, he opted to end the pain and madness, taking his own life in the process.

And, when he blacked out from the blood loss, he saw _her._

At first, he recoiled, thinking that this was just another dream.

But then, he started to slowly, carefully, step forward-

– but then that damned _doppelganger _took his place, had stepped in front of him with so much confidence that it made him sick with envy. And as the doppelganger stepped forward, he found himself pulled back by some invisible force. Try as he might, he couldn't stop the force from pulling him away from the two of them.

_It wasn't fair,_ he thought to himself.

_He'd gone through more pain and suffering, and he deserved to be with her more!_

He still tried to reach out, tried to move forward, but, just as quickly, he was plucked from the room by the invisible force.

_No, don't leave me!_

And then he woke up, lying in his bed. Envy and rage still filled his mind, alongside the wish- the wish that the _doppelganger _had stolen from him.

So when a mysterious voice promised him his wish _and_ revenge in exchange for a favor, how could he refuse?

* * *

Shintaro was ready.

He'd spent the previous few routes simply observing, watching the Mekakushi-dan's members react to each day's events. He watched as they came together, lived together, and bonded as a group. He watched as they played, laughed, and cried together.

And, of course, he watched as it all came raining down on their heads thanks to his partner.

His partner was the twisted, empty shell of a former friend: a teenage boy with black eyes, yellow hair, and no apparent goals except to simply kill everyone in the Mekakushi-dan in as terrifying a way as possible. Shintaro had to hand it to the guy- his _modus operandi _was direct, stunning, bloody, and a bit viscerally entertaining for Shintaro. He particularly enjoyed watching his doppelganger get torn apart (both physically and mentally) by "Kuroha" (as Shintaro had taken to calling his partner).

But none of that could compare to what Shintaro planned to do. While Kuroha's methods were effective, they lacked a certain degree of _finesse_ that Shintaro desired. They also tended to lack the amount of drama and mental trauma that Shintaro wished to see- even though Kuroha's victims undoubtedly were crying (if not dead) during his "playtime", they typically didn't have too much time to grieve or suffer mentally.

This time, though, that would change.

* * *

His day begins with a trip down to an abandoned warehouse.

A large black truck is parked inside. Crates are strewn about. Several men are standing inside, chatting idly.

_"How do you think this is going to turn out?"_

_ "Pretty well. I mean, remember those two idiots a while back on the news? _They _got their ransom, we're several times better equipped, and we've got more people."_

_ "But they only took one guy hostage. We're taking an entire mall hostage."_

_ "_Floor _of a mall. Very different from an entire mall."_

Shintaro takes advantage of their distraction to sneak into the ceiling, above the hall leading to their "prep room". There's a man standing guard in front of the door to the room. However, Shintaro knows that the man is going to leave to use the bathroom in a few seconds- and there he goes. Shintaro sneaks into the room, careful not to expose his presence.

The prep room contains all of the men's equipment, from their guns, to their Kevlar vests, to even their clown masks. However, that's not what he's there for. He instead walks past the equipment, and over to a coffeemaker.

This outfit of men had a tradition: before leaving on any kind of heist or mission, they'd drink a cup of coffee. It makes sense, from Shintaro's perspective: the coffee would wake them up and make them more alert during their activities.

The pot's filled with coffee. He decides to add something extra to it.

Extra caffeine. Not enough to kill them, however- just enough to make them slightly more jittery and a bit quicker-thinking.

He exits the way he came, before the guard can come back.

Later, when they drink before setting out, none of them notice the added caffeine.

But their hands do start shaking a bit more.

* * *

Next, he follows his doppelganger to the mall.

He worries, for a bit, about someone mistaking him for his doppelganger, but he manages to evade detection- until the terrorists come, anyways. He's then tied up, and dragged down to the TV section as a hostage. He sits away from Kano and Seto, and makes himself as inconspicuous as possible- he knows that the others are watching the hostages and looking for an opening. As everything starts to fall and the terrorists panic, he knows that his doppelganger's plan is starting.

He smiles as his own plan goes off without a hitch. One of the terrorists, jumpy from the coffee from the warehouse, reflexively begins firing at the nearest moving thing- a figure, clad in red. However, his shots go wide, and barely miss the running boy. They ricochet off the metal shelves, and hit the hostages, instead.

And as the boy in red runs to his goal, the boy in green slumps to the floor, bleeding.

Mary screams, but it doesn't register for the red-clad Shintaro until after he's done connecting Ene to the mall's systems. As he turns around, he catches sight of the poor boy bleeding out on the floor. His eyes go wide, and he runs towards the group now gathering around Seto.

As he kneels down, one of the group- the blonde-haired boy- looks up, and yells at Shintaro.

_"Didn't you say that you'd have a "one-hundred percent success rate"?!"_

* * *

The Mekakushi-dan, aside from Shintaro, ends up returning to Apartment 107.

Mary immediately runs off to her room; Kido and Momo follow her. Kano just stays in the living room. The black-jacketed Shintaro observes the four for a while, before traveling to his doppelganger's house and observing his reaction to events.

Shintaro blames himself for Seto's death, and Kano blames him as well. The black-clad Shintaro also notices that an old emotion seems to be welling up inside of Kano: _resent_.. On the other hand, the other three (physical) members who were there blame themselves for Seto's death. Ene's just confused and wondering why everyone's crying; she can guess that something went wrong at the mall, but she doesn't know the exact details. Her confusion was not helped by Shintaro leaving his phone at the mall in his haste to get away.

Ene eventually manages to get back to Shintaro's desktop, and is about to start yelling when she notices Shintaro curled up in a small ball by his bed. He's muttering something to himself, and the computer's microphones are _just _sensitive enough to pick his words up.

_"It's all my fault..."_

And all at once, Ene understands what happened.

* * *

The next day starts with the boy in the black jacket paying a visit to a local delivery hub. He dons a red jacket, and walks around the back, to the truck bays. He walks over to one of the trucks in particular- it's the same as all the other trucks, save for the license plate. He lifts the hood of the engine up, and installs a device onto the truck's brake line. It's rather simple; a small explosive charge, linked to a remote detonator located in his pocket. The charge would remove the truck's ability to brake.

He lowers the hood again, and walks out, with his hands in his pockets.

Further down the street, he takes off his red jacket in exchange for his usual black one.

A few minutes later, a truck driver walks in from the rest of the hub proper. He thought he had the day off, but the boss asked him to come in- one of the other deliverymen had been killed in the terrorist attack yesterday. He hadn't known the kid well, but saw him around the hub occasionally. He seemed like a lively young fellow. The truck driver shakes his head softly as he begins the day's work...

_"What a waste of a life..."_

* * *

The day also brings a new face to the Mekakushi-dan. He's not enough to fill the void left behind, but he does help take their mind off things, if only a little.

Momo found the new member while walking home to get Shintaro and, presumably, bring him over to the apartment. She wasn't looking where she was going, and promptly walked right into the little boy. Just as he's about to yell at her, his eyes spontaneously flash red, and he freezes. She notices this, promptly forgets about her original objective, and drags the boy, Hibiya, back to Apartment 107. For a fleeting moment, out of the corner of his eyes, he sees a figure wearing black- and freezes. When he turns his head to get a better look, the figure's gone.

Back in the apartment, the new member's arrival is met with an undercurrent of anger; they all think, to varying degrees, that Momo's trying to make them forget about Seto. However, none of them vocalize this point, and reluctantly allow Hibiya to join them. Hibiya himself is somewhat uncomfortable with the Dan right now, but settles in somewhat with the help of Momo. The two of them eventually end up going outside again to buy groceries.

Meanwhile, at the Kisaragi residence, Ene is still trying to get Shintaro to open up and start talking about what happened the day before. Suddenly, someone knocks at the front door; Ene convinces Shintaro to see who it is. He opens the door, and both are surprised to see the knocker- a boy clad in all-white, with equally white hair to match. Shintaro's surprised by the odd color scheming. Ene's surprised because it's someone she knew. The two are shocked into a silence for a few seconds. The visitor stays equally silent.

The silence is broken by Shintaro.

_"Um.. hello?"_

_ "Can you help me? I'm looking for someone."_

_ "Why are you asking me? Can't you just go to the police? Hey, wait, do I even know you?"_

_ "My name is... Konoha-"_

_ "Just help him, Master!"_

_ "What? Why?"_

_ "Just do it!"_

* * *

The three of them end up wandering the town for a while, in silence. Konoha wasn't much of a talker, Ene seemed unusually fidgety and nervous, and Shintaro decided to take in the rare chance at silence in the midst of these hectic days. Konoha nearly catches sight of the boy he's looking for several times, but repeatedly lost sight soon after amidst the crowds on the street. Shintaro also thinks he sees his sister walking amongst the crowds at several points, but quickly dismisses that possibility- there weren't any rabid crowds chasing her.

* * *

Eventually, they stop to rest in the evening. They haven't had any luck finding the boy. Shintaro and Ene ask Konoha a few questions about the boy, his appearance, etc. However, they eventually return home after telling him to go ask the police to help look for Hibiya Amamiya.

Meanwhile, Hibiya and Momo walk down another street on their way back to Apartment 107. Hibiya's in the middle of complaining to Momo when a masked man runs up to him, grabs him, and starts carrying him off as Momo pursues him.

Just up the street, a truck driver's on his way to his last delivery of the day. In his haste to get the job done, he speeds up the truck a little; he's going just over the local speed limits when he hears a muted popping sound from his engine. Thinking it to be nothing, he keeps going- and promptly slams on the brakes when he sees the white van and people up ahead.

To his horror, he finds that the truck doesn't slow down.

* * *

Hibiya's just been thrown into a white van when Momo manages to catch up with the kidnapper.

_Guess running from all those crowds did something good for me, after all._

She's just about to grab the kidnapper and try rescuing her newfound friend, when the kidnapper turns around and pushes her to the ground. She, however, manages to grab onto one of the kidnapper's pant legs and trips him before jumping to her feet. She's about to quickly open the van's doors when she hears a deep, loud horn from behind her.

* * *

Back at the apartment, the rest of the Dan slowly gets more worried as time goes on.

_"I wonder what's taking so long."_

_ "Ah, don't worry, Danchou. I'm sure she's just been held up by fa-"_

Kano's interrupted by a message on Kido's cell phone, from Ene.

_"Turn on your TV. Now."_

She grabs the remote and turns on the TV, while wondering why Ene seemed so serious.

The TV's already been set to the news channel, somehow.

_ "Breaking news this evening: A group of three men and children have been found today, crushed under a broken truck..."_

_ – _

_ "Police investigators found the truck laying on its side, with three crushed bodies underneath it."_

_ "One was found to be the body of a notorious local kidnapper, presumed to be the van's owner."_

_ "Another has been determined to be the body of eight year old Hibiya Amamiya, presumed to be the kidnapper's victim."_

_ "The third body was that of world-famous idol Momo Kisaragi, who appears to have been trying to open the doors to the van before the truck collided with it."_

_ "Investigators have also released a CCTV recording of what appears to be a saboteur installing some kind of device on the truck involved in the crash." _

A recording of a truck bay then played on the TV, showing a young man in a red jacket walking up to a truck, lifting up the hood, and placing a device inside.

_"Wait a second, that looks like-"_

_ "-the guy from the mall. The one that killed..."_

_ "No. That wasn't his fault.. It was an accide-"_

_ "It wasn't an accident! His plan got Seto killed!"_

_ "Kano, please..."_

The recording then showed the man lowering the hood and walking away calmly.

_ "The remains of what appears to be the device have been recovered by police; the device apparently disabled the vehicle's brake line."_

_ "The investigators have stated that more information will be released as it is received and verified."_

_ "The whole country is mourning the death of Kisaragi Momo. In several cities across Japan, thousands have gathered, bearing candles, photos, and memorabilia..."_

_ "...for more updates as they occur, see our website at..."_

_ – _

Kano had decided, then and there, that he needed to do something about that guy in red.

He'd been responsible for far too many deaths already.

* * *

It's 11 PM. A young man, dressed in red, simply lies on a bed, unmoving save for his breathing.

He's tried to sleep; every time, however, people appear to him in his dreams. The green-hoodied kid, Momo, and Hibiya all make appearances in his dreams, and each time, he wakes up in a sweat, and inevitably, only scant minutes have passed during his attempted slumber.

Ene, thankfully, has decided to leave him alone for now. She said that "Master needed time to think on his own."

He can faintly hear a creaking noise from below as he tries to fall asleep yet again.

When he inevitably wakes up a few minutes later, he can see a figure with blonde hair, catlike eyes, and a black hoodie standing over him. "_It's one of the friends of the boy from the mall. I wonder what he's doing here...oh. That explains it,"_ he thinks. The "explanation" is a large kitchen knife, raised over Shintaro's neck. The two of them remain stock still for a moment or two, silent. Then, the figure brings the knife down towards Shintaro's exposed neck.

He doesn't try to dodge the blade. He could have rolled to the side, evaded the attempt on his life.

But he doesn't.

Deep down, he thinks.

_I deserved this, didn't I?_

Out of his bedroom window, he can see a black-jacketed figure, standing under a streetlight.

_Wait, hang on. Is that- _

The kitchen knife interrupts his thoughts before he's able to complete them.

–

Shintaro smiles as Kano stabs his doppelganger inside his own home. Even better is how the doppelganger seemed to have a brief look of confusion on his face- no doubt from looking at what was, for all intents and purposes, himself.

The black-jacketed Shintaro- now, the _only _Shintaro- walks away, with his hands in his pockets. Most of his work is done now- except for the final part.

For this, he's going to need to take a leaf from his partner's book.

–

Kano would have loved to ask Shintaro questions, had he had the time.

Questions such as:

_Why did you kill your sister and the boy in the van?_

_ Why did you feel so confident in yourself two days ago?_

_ Why didn't you save my nee-chan?_

_ Why did you try to forget her?_

Of course, he can't ask them now. For one thing, Shintaro's dead.

For another, making too much noise would attract unwanted attention.

He decides to leave the body where it lies- moving it would be too troublesome. The stabbing left a lot of blood lying around, with some- actually, a lot- of it on his hoodie. That wasn't too concerning- he could simply change his appearance to that of a less bloodstained Kano. This had the advantage of hiding the knife as well. He leaves the Kisaragi residence looking more or less none the worse for wear.

Ene returns to Shintaro's computer not a few minutes later- she had heard a minor commotion and was curious as to what it was about. When she looks past the screen to ask Shintaro, what she sees horrifies her.

One anonymous tip later, and police are swarming the residence.

* * *

Kano arrives back at Apartment 107 still looking no worse for wear.

He knocks on the door, and Kido answers. Mary's sitting on the couch behind her.

_"Oh, it's you. Seriously, where were you? You left without telling us."_

_ "Ah, it was nothing~. Was Danchou woo~rried about me?"_

She stamps on his foot. It hurts- he falls to the ground in pain.

_"That wasn't it you idi-"_

Kido takes a look at Kano, and freezes. Her eyes go wide, and she recoils a bit.

_ "Oh god. Kano, __**what did you do?**__"_

At first, he's a bit confused as to what she's talking about, but then the realization hits him.

_That hurt._

So now, instead of talking to a mostly clean Kano, Kido was talking to a bloodstained Kano who was clutching a kitchen knife that was also covered in blood.

He hastily gets up, and attempts to explain (or perhaps, excuse) himself.

_"Wait- wait, I can explain-"_

He's interrupted by the TV, apparently left on from earlier yesterday.

_"...Police have discovered yet another death today. Local resident Shintaro Kisaragi, brother of well known idol Momo Kisaragi, was discovered just a few minutes ago with a large knife wound in his neck. Officials say that they are uncertain of whether the death was a murder or a suicide, but that the most likely scenario was that the boy committed suicide after his sister's death..."_

Kido's looking at him in horror now. She's slowly stumbling backwards, away from him.

_"No... no... why? Why would you do that to him?"_

Mary's crying again in the background. Kano's not sure why- maybe because of the news? That wouldn't make sense, though- he didn't think that Mary had much of an attachment to Shintaro.

However, he's got more pressing things to worry about. Such as the fact that Kido's still asking him "_Why?_".

_"He murdered everyone else! He deserved it!"_

_ "How are you so sure of that?!"_

_ "I- I just know, dammit!"_

When he says that, she stops for a moment. Then, she speaks again.

_"...Get out."_

_ "What?"_

_ "I said, get out. Get out, dammit!"_

_ "Wait, why?"_

_ "JUST GET OUT!"_

_ – _

And so, he's thrown out of Apartment 107.

Unfortunately, he has no idea what to do next.

Try to go back in? Beg for forgiveness?

He eventually decides on coming back in the morning, after she cools down.

The deceiver thinks and wonders as he starts to walk away from the door.

_He'd never seen Danchou react like that before. If she ever expressed anger, it wasn't anything too bad, just minor annoyance at the worst. But that... that was actual anger._

He would have thought more, if it weren't for the hot bits of metal that pierced his head at that moment.

–

Kuroha was right. This gun really was something.

_Just- bam. In one shot._

Shintaro decides to just leave the corpse where it lay- for simplicity, as Kuroha had said.

The door opens, and Kido Tsubomi steps out. She takes one look at the corpse with her grief-stricken face, and freezes in shock. Then, she looks up, and sees what she thinks is a dead man.

And then she falls backwards, propelled by the force of the bullet that pierced her heart.

Shintaro looks down at the smoking gun, smiles, and walks into the apartment.

There isn't anyone inside, save for Mary, who is still wailing. Her cries abruptly stop, however, when Shintaro, his black jacket now painted a colorful blood-red, walks into the room. They look at each other.

_"What.. I thought you were-"_

_ "Thought I was what? Dead? My partner? Sorry, but he won't arrive until later. And I don't plan on dying anytime soon."_

_ "Why did you-"_

_ "For fun, mostly. Though I do have other motives that you'll have to guess at. In any case, don't you have something to do? A wish to make?"_

_ "How- how do you know..."_

_ "Oh, about the wish? Easy enough: my boss told me. But anyways, shouldn't you get around to pressing that reset button? You still have time, you know."_

And she does exactly that, the snakes gathering around her before she disappears in a flash of light.

It is around this time that Kuroha steps into the room.

_"Very well done. Is my weapon damaged?"_

_ "No, not at all. They didn't put up very much of a fight. Here it is, in any case."_

_ "Ah, thank you. So, I guess I'll see you in the next route?"_

_ "I suppose so. Do you have any plans?"_

_ "No. Do you?"_

_ "Somewhat. I wanted this route to be longer, more drawn out and agonizing. But I suppose I had to start somewhere, right?"_

_ "Indeed. Well, I'll be off then."_

_ "Alright. See you later."_

_ – _

And so the possessed android left, the black-jacketed boy following not long after, drawing the route to a close.

* * *

_Right, so this was inspired by a WMG on TVtropes that stated that the ultimate villain of the series would be Route XX-Shintaro, filled with envy for his Route 1 self._

_ While the idea never came to pass, the idea of a villainous Shintaro intrigued me, and I started thinking of various scenarios that he would cause- and the idea grew from there. _

_ Do note that I'm a mostly new writer, and that I've mostly written this in the wee hours of the morning and while in varying degrees of sleep deprivation- if you have any qualms with the writing, don't hesitate to tell them to me in the reviews!_


	2. A Piece Out of Place

_Obligatory Disclaimer: I don't own the Kagerou Project; Jin (aka Shizen-no-Teki-P) does._

* * *

_This little piece occurs during the terrorist attack, in another 'Doppelganger Route'._

* * *

Kido, Momo, and Mary stealthily made their way to where the hostages were kept.

Momo led the ragtag group forward, and Kido followed behind Mary.

She checked her surroundings as they moved forward, taking note of anything interesting or potentially important that she saw.

Of course, as focused on her surroundings as she was, she was understandably surprised when someone tapped her shoulder from behind. She jumped slightly, turned around, saw a figure that looked a lot like Kisaragi-chan's older brother in black...

...felt a sharp pain on her head, and finally blacked out.

* * *

_"Entry Team to TOC, we are standing by and ready to enter as soon as the shutter doors open."_

_ "Roger that, Entry Team. Be advised, recon shows that there are multiple civilians and unidentified elements in the operations zone, the unidentifieds do not appear to be hostages but don't appear to be hostiles either. Watch your fire."_

_ "Entry Team to TOC, we copy."_

_ "TOC to Negotiator, confirm ready status."_

_ "This is Negotiator, I'm green to go."_

_ "Copy that, Negotiator, we'll send you up immed-"_

_ "Entry Team to TOC, Entry Team to TOC! The shutter doors are opening! Repeat, the shutter doors are opening!"_

_ "Wait, what? TOC to Entry Team, you are go for entry!"_

_ "Roger that!"_

* * *

As the shutter doors opened, the men in the assault team took cover behind the shelves as a hail of bullets descended from the terrorists in front of them. The hostages behind them began to panic and flee as the assault team made their dynamic entrance. Unfortunately, the terrorists noticed this too, and some in the rear began shooting at the fleeing hostages- a couple of their shots hit.

_"Cease fire and drop your weapons, or we will fire back!"_

_ "Fuck you all!"_

_ "Open fire!"_

The warning given, the assault team began to fire back. About three bullets hit their intended target, and one of the terrorists fell. Now fearing for their lives, the rest fell back. By this time, the rest of the hostages had dispersed, scattering around the entire mall floor.

_"Entry Team to TOC, we have multiple wounded hostages in the operation zone, have a paramedic unit on standby."_

_ "Roger that, Entry Team."_

The assault team continued to move forward cautiously. Since the floor was designed as essentially one large open room, with no walls and ceilings to prevent sound from traveling, both teams of men could hear each other moving. As the terrorists had gone mostly silent (save for intermittent gunfire and screams immediately after, presumably from killed civilians) after a fair bit of scuffling, the squad leader assumed that the terrorists had set up an ambush.

_"Careful, guys. Possible ambush. Keep your eyes peeled."_

They moved from aisle to aisle, section to section. Every now and then they came across a scared and helpless civilian cowering behind some shelving or a some other piece of cover, and the team had to tell the civilian to stay where they were, and that they'd come back for them later. A couple of times, they had to forcefully keep them away after they'd tried to follow, or in one case, cling to, the team. Still other times had them discovering corpses, either of the hostages or the unidentifieds.

The unidentified people were, funnily enough, the easiest to identify. Most of them were dressed relatively oddly- most of the hostages were middle-aged men and women, and wore relatively drab clothing. On the other hand, the unidentifieds were dressed in colorful hoodies and jackets; a red one bleeding out here _("TOC, this is Entry Team. We've found a heavily injured civilian. We've applied first aid, but I don't think he's going to last long...")_, a black one slumped against a shelf there, a pink one with multiple bullet wounds lying in a pool of blood over there, and so forth.

Eventually, they came to a clearing: evidently some kind of "Sale Central" point, with shelving units circled around a handful of waist-high boxes containing various small devices in plastic containers. It seemed like the perfect site for an ambush to the squad leader- and right on cue, the terrorists revealed themselves in a hail of gunfire. The squad promptly dashed to cover- most of them made it, but two had been hit and killed. The rest of the squad fired back, and one of them pulled something from his belt.

_"CS, out!"_

As the irritant gas spread throughout the area, the terrorists began to cough and close their eyes- giving the team the opportunity to run up to the terrorists, disarm them, and arrest them.

_"Entry Team to TOC, all probable hostiles pacified. We're going to sweep the floor now, and check for injured."_

_ "Roger that, Entry Team. Paramedics are already on-scene."_

* * *

The team had cleared most of the floor of civilians, and only had a few more aisles to check.

Of course, they found something odd in these aisles- a girl in a grey hoodie, out like a light, lying on one of the shelves.

_"Entry Team to TOC, we've found an unconcious, but apparently uninjured civilian. She looks like one of the unidentifieds, should we bring her in?"_

_ "Affirmative, Entry Team. Investigative wants to know why she and her merry band of friends were running around during a crime."_

* * *

It wasn't easy, but Shintaro had managed to deftly avoid both the assault team and the terrorists in the mall. His counterpart couldn't say the same- as a matter of fact, he couldn't say anything, especially since he was in the back of an ambulance, with a team of paramedics desperately trying to keep him alive. Shintaro didn't think he would make it; massive blood loss tended to kill people if left unattended for too long.

In terms of sheer body count, this particular plan had gone very well- most of the Mekakushi-dan was dead, except for Kido, Mary, Ene, and the others that they would only meet later. In addition, Kido was being taken in for police questioning. Shintaro would have loved to see how she 'concealed' her way out of that, but unfortunately, he couldn't; Mary had just gone to another route and he had to follow.

He gave the mall floor one last look as he left. Like the last route, he spectacle was amazing- he just wished that it was longer.

* * *

_Right, so this is a short little thing that I suddenly thought of after writing 'Unwanted Attention Part 1'. I find that it was a nice was to practice writing an action scene of some kind- tell me how you think it went! Also, while writing this, I focused less on writing the introduction and more on the 'center'- all of the action and fighting._


	3. Unwanted Attention, Part 1

_We've all seen what Eyes Wide Open can do when possessing Konoha._

_ What happens if he chooses someone else?_

_ (On a side note, differentiating between the two Shintaros is getting somewhat tiring._

_ Any suggestions?)  
_

_Obligatory Disclaimer: I don't own the Kagerou Project; Jin (aka Shizen-no-Teki-P) does._

–

Another route, another plan to put in action. This particular plan came about from a short bit of idle thinking during the previous route- _"Hm. Could the snake possess other people aside from the android?" _He discussed it with the snake himself in the Heat Haze, as they were preparing to enter the new route.

_"Yes, I could... but there are limitations. Why do you ask?"_

_ "I had an idea we could try, but it depends on one of them being under our control."_

_ "Ah. I see. However, the others will not be easily swayed- their minds will need to be fractured to an extent first, and even then I can't take direct control, only make them follow your command."_

_ "Really? Why? You can take control of Konoha easily enough."_

_ "The android's mind is malleable, as is the scientist's. The others' minds, though, are more resilient."_

_ "Well, that won't be a problem. Here's what I had in mind..."_

* * *

For some odd reason, they had entered the timeline not on the fifteenth, but the day after, on the sixteenth. It didn't really matter to Shintaro, though. Even though the Mekakushi-dan was going to be harder to break apart, he was confident that his plan would succeed all the same.

He compiled a mental to-do list as he walked down the street.

_First, I'll need to go to the electronics department of the local mall. Hopefully, they'll have components on sale..._

* * *

It had taken a few hours, but he finally managed to gather all of the materials he had been searching for. All he would need to do now is test it; for this, he would need to find a secluded area. The forest would work.

The device primarily consisted of a small breadboard, with a few nine-volt batteries, a timer, antenna, switch, and a few other components wired up on it. Also mounted on it was a small cardboard tube, filled with a bit of iron rust mixed with aluminum powder, as well as an electric match initator.

He set the device down underneath a tree, and flipped a small switch on the front.

Then, he stepped back a bit and pressed the button on a remote detonator.

Within seconds, the metallic mixture, also known as thermite, had ignited. As he saw the tree catch fire, he walked away. The device would work.

* * *

His next stop was his alternate's house. As expected, both of the Kisaragi children were out- probably doing something with the rest of the Mekakushi-dan. He quietly snuck into his own house (he had the key, of course), and planted a few devices inside his room. In particular, he made sure to place a few by the surge protector his computer was plugged into, by his door and window, and under his bed as well. He left as quietly as he entered, which was slightly unneccessary; his mom was out at this time, at her workplace.

He returned a few hours after midnight. As expected, both his counterpart and his counterpart's sister were in the house and asleep. Peering into his counterpart's room, he could see Ene, still on-screen, screwing about with various files on the computer. Again, he snuck into his house, but this time he made his way to the circuit box. From there, he shut off power to the house. As many of the lights in the house were off already, this went mostly unnoticed by the human residents within. Ene, though, had to relocate herself to his alternate's phone. She definitely noticed the power outage- Shintaro had to act quickly.

He ran out of the house, quickly running up to his vantage point, on top of the roof of another house on the street. He peered into his counterpart's room again- he'd only just started to awaken. Good. Shintaro pulled out the detonator remote, and pressed the button. Within seconds, his counterpart's room, and house, were ablaze. He almost felt sorry for his counterpart; the devices had been placed as to block off all possible escape routes from his counterpart's room with extremely hot fires.

As his counterpart panicked in the blaze, Momo awoke. She took one look at the wall separating the two siblings' rooms (which was on fire), and the smoke (which was quickly filling her room), and immediately ran outside. Conveniently enough for Shintaro, she left her phone in her room, to which the fire was quickly spreading. As Momo exited the burning building, she was greeted with the sight of numerous firefighters and firetrucks in front of the building. As a paramedic rushed to her and began to treat her, a squad of firefighters traveled into the blaze.

Of course, they left only a few minutes later, as the burning building collapsed due to the fire. The girl screamed, cried, and tried to reach out and run towards the burning wreckage of the building, but was held back by the paramedic. However, she struggled, and eventually escaped. She ran down the street, and into an alleyway, hiding behind a dumpster. The paramedics and firefighters tried to look for her, to no avail; eventually, they left, leaving the burnt-out building behind for the cleanup crew.

As Shintaro watched his counterpart's sister cry, Eyes Wide Open spoke to him.

_"Shall I... ask her to make a wish?"_

_ "Of course."_

–

As Momo cried in the alleyway, she thought about her brother.

Sure, he was creepy, weird, rude, and a bit perverted at times, he still had things going for him: he was protective, was smart, and, admittedly, was even a bit _cool _at times, like that time in the mall, where the terrorist had grabbed him by the collar...

But, of course, none of that mattered now, since he was dead.

Could she have prevented it? Could she have saved him?

She didn't know. But her mind was telling her that _yes, she could have_.

She could have run into his room, pulled him out of the fire. He might have sustained a few burns in the process, but at least he'd be alive, right?

Even through this, she cried alone. However, a few moments later, she found that she _wasn't _alone- a mysterious voice, apparently inside her head, began speaking to her.

_"Poor child. Left alone in the world after an unfortunate accident. What ever will she do...?"_

_ "W-w-who are you?"_

_ "My identity is not important for now... yours is, however. Tell me, if you were to wish for anything in the world, what would you wish for? My guess would be your _onii-chan_, correct?"_

_ "Y-yeah! I want my onii-chan back!"_

_ "Very well... if you do a..._favor_ for me, I'll bring your dear brother back. Do you accept?"_

_ "Of course! I'll do anything if I can get onii-chan back!"_

_ "Okay then, just sit tight and close your eyes, this will only take a moment..."_

She closed her eyes, and felt something pass into her body, sending a tingling sensation all throughout her body.

And when Momo Kisaragi opened her eyes again, one of them shone a bright crimson, while its companion remained its normal hue.

Soon enough, Shintaro Kisaragi rounded the corner into the alleyway.

Momo responded with a teary hug that used all the force she could muster.

* * *

_A bit of background info here: In this timelime (based off the first route in the manga), most of the Mekakushi-dan have met (Hibiya and Konoha excluded), and the terrorist attack at the mall happened, they went to the amusement park, and went home without incident (aka Kuroha didn't kill them all)._

_Also, I've decided to write this part of the story in different chapters / parts, instead of writing and uploading the entire part as one chapter._


	4. Unwanted Attention, Part 2

_Obligatory Disclaimer: I don't own the Kagerou Project; Jin (aka Shizen-no-Teki-P) does._

_ Do I need these disclaimers in every chapter? Everyone else seems to do it._

* * *

Momo cried into her brother's black jacket, shedding tears of joy, sadness, and perhaps a bit of anger.

_"Onii-chan... don't do stupid things like that again! Okay?!"_

_ "I won't. I promise."_

_ "...you better. I don't want to lose you..."_

After a while, her tears dissipated, and the two sat alone in the alleyway, in silence.

Then Momo spoke up.

_"Onii-chan..."_

_ "Yes, Momo?"_

_ "How did the fire start? Was it an accident?"_

_ "I don't know. I think Ene might have started it; the fire started from the outlet that my electronics were connected to. She might have been trying to overload it."_

_ "So... she was _trying _to kill you?"_

_ "Not my first thought... but that may be true."_

_ "...that bitch."_

This was perfect for Shintaro. She was coming to the conclusions that he wanted to all on her own. As a bonus, she was extremely malleable in this state; just a bit more prodding, and she'd become the perfect tool.

_"Hmm... along those lines..."_

_ "Yeah?"_

_ "Do you think she was working with the others?"_

_ "The others? In the Dan?"_

_ "Yeah, them."_

_ "I don't know... but she might have been, since your idea kinda makes sense..."_

_ "So wait, why are they trying to kill me?"_

_ "I don't know, but if what you're saying is correct, when we've got to hide you, right?"_

_ "Or, we could strike back and make them go away."_

_ "...hey, good idea! How do we start?"_

* * *

The two siblings had decided to stay in a small hotel room, for the time being.

_"Okay, do you have your phone?"_

_ "...no. I think I lost it in the fire."_

_ "Perfect. Okay, here's what I'll need you to do..."_

* * *

Kido and Kano lazed around in the living room of Apartment 107, in silence. Most of the apartment's other occupants were already asleep, but the two of them had elected to stay up. Kido had woken up first (why, she wouldn't quite specify), but had accidentally awoken Kano. Neither of them could go back to sleep afterward, so they simply passed the time together.

Kano broke the silence by asking Kido a question.

_"Heeey, Danchou. Daaanchou."_

_ "Oi, quit it. What?"_

_ "What do ya think of the new members?"_

_ "Well... they're okay..."_

The faintest of blushes had appeared on her face.

_ "Ooooo? Are you thinking of someone in particular? The Kisaragi girl, maybe?"_

Her blush deepened slightly.

_ "I- Shut up! No! That's not it!"_

_ "Ehehehe. Danchou, you're so fun to tease~!"_

_ "Stop it! I- I don't like her or anything!"_

_ "Su~ure, Danchou. You definitely don't like her. You looo-"_

Kano's teasing was interrupted when Kido stomped on his foot.

_ "No I don't, idiot!"_

_ "Yes~ you do~, Danchou! Stop denyi-"_

The duo were interrupted by a thud from behind the front door.

_"I'll get it, Kano."_

Kido opened the door, to find a grief-wracked Momo sitting on the front doorstep.

Momo looked up, saw Kido, and immediately gripped her in a tight hug, sobbing violently into her hoodie the whole time.

Kano simply looked on in surprise.

* * *

Shintaro watched the entire scene play out from atop the building across the street.

He was impressed. He knew that his sister had some (well, really, _lots _of_)_ acting talent, but this was incredible. Sure, it might have been the snake helping, but the acting, the wailing and the sheer _aura _of despair emanating from her... that was amazing.

* * *

At least five minutes had already passed, and Momo still hadn't stopped enough for her to start talking. As Kido leaned her head in to ask her what was wrong, she caught a whiff of a familiar scent. She couldn't quite place it, but she didn't really like it. Still, though, she leaned in closer out of curiosity. She took in a deep breath.. and her mind locked up.

_That scent... it's smoke!_

She nearly started crying herself as unpleasant memories dredged themselves up from the depths of her mind; instead, though, she settled for simply bringing the crying girl even closer.

–

Kano wasn't quite sure what it was about the two of them that made his eye twitch.

Maybe it was the way they were so close together... it was like they were lovers, or somethi-

He recoiled somewhat from the thought. Yeah, he had teased Kido about it earlier, but he was pretty sure they both knew that it was all but impossible; they'd only known for each other for a day or so. They couldn't be _that _close already... right? He was still infinitely closer to Kido than Momo was... right? Yeah, he definitely was; he wasn't in any danger of losing people close to him. Probably.

He took a quick walk outside to clear his head.

–

Kido wasn't quite sure how she had ended up in this situation.

Apparently, the younger (well, _only_) Kisaragi had _fallen asleep_ while crying into her chest.

Unfortunately for the green-haired girl, Momo's grip was unshakable, even while asleep.

And so she walked back to her bed, with Momo clinging to her the entire way. Their combined weight caused Kido to tumble into bed back-first, causing the bedsprings to creak slightly. After a few more futile attempts at removing Momo's grip on her, she eventually just fell asleep with Momo on top of her.

Kano returned to the apartment an hour later, none the wiser about who Kido had decided to share her bed with.


End file.
